Victim tells jury about violent attack 'in the wrong neighborhood'

BATON ROUGE - The star witness in an attack two years ago at a gas station near the Governor's Mansion told jurors about the frightening moments before he was knocked unconscious.

David Ray said he was in line at a gas station when Donald Dickerson walked in. He claims that's when he was hit multiple times and told "your in the wrong neighborhood and you're not going to make it out."

"This man would have no reason to say this happened," Prosecutor Barry Fontenot said. "What reason would he have for making this up?"

Ray's wife and kids were in the car watching as their father was getting hit. Angela Ray told jurors she tried to intervene and talked to the suspect she saw hit her husband. The next thing she knew everything went black, and she saw the ceiling of the gas station.

During opening statements today, defense lawyers for Donald Dickerson painted a much different picture of what happened. They claimed David Ray provoked the attack, but didn't deny that Donald Dickerson was the one who hit him.

"I love that boy," Dickerson's relative Bobby Collins said. "He's a good boy. That man provoked him to anger."

Dickerson is facing a life sentence if he's convicted on the second degree felony battery charge. The District Attorney's Office wants him sentenced as a habitual offender because of his prior convictions for breaking the law. Dickerson is a convicted felon for purse snatching and armed robbery.

"So far, it's moving along as we expected it to," Prosecutor Brandon Fremin said. "We've put on several witnesses and we are pleased with the progress so far."